Business continues to boom for MGM National Harbor, which raked in $57 million last month, 12% growth and 41% of the Free State’s $137 million gross gaming revenue. 
Maryland Live‘s 34% market share translated into a gross of $46 million. Horseshoe Baltimore was flat, with a 15% market share and $20 million gross. The only revenue-negative casino was Hollywood Perryville, down 4% to $5.5 million. JP Morgan analyst Joseph Greff estimates it will remain flat for the rest of the quarter, Golden Entertainment and Churchill Downs had good Januarys. Rocky Gap Casino was up 9% to $4 million and Ocean Downs climbed 6% to $5 million.
In West Virginia, gambling revenues were down 2%, driven by 4% lower slot winnings. At Penn National Gaming‘s Charles Town Races an 11% increase in table win couldn’t head off an 8% slot decline, bringing the racino 5% down.
Illinois gambling revenues got walloped, down 10% to $95 million. Not even a neutral calendar nor an easy comparison (-5.6% in January 2018) could help, especially not when heavy snow and record cold temperatures evidently scared gamblers into seclusion. Two casinos were revenue-
positive: Harrah’s Metropolis was up 17% to $5.5 million and Argosy Belle gained 4.5% to end with $3.5 million. Harrah’s Joliet ($13 million) suffered least of the losers, down 4%. Empress Joliet fell 14% to $7.5 million, Hollywood Aurora was down 10% to $8 million and Eldorado Resorts had its first taste of adversity at Grand Victoria, tumbling 11% to $11 million. I doubt they appreciated the symmetry of that figure. Rivers Casino plummeted 12.5% to $30.5 million.
Downstate, Casino Queen plummeted 14% to $6.5 million, Par-A-Dice spiraled 16% earthward, to less than $5 million and Jumer’s Casino Rock Island shed 20.5% for a $4 million take. Incidentally, Penn National met analyst forecasts and exceeded its own 
guidance, posting 4Q18 results of $1.1 billion net revenue and cash flow of $324 million. Greff opined that the “upside was entirely driven by PENN’s legacy properties (mostly operating upside, some benefit from lower corporate expense) while the newly acquired [Pinnacle Entertainment] assets were modestly below our projection,” probably driven downward by poor performance in Louisiana. One item that exceeded expectation was Penn’s expenditure on maintenance ($188 million), never a bad department in which to overshoot.
Traffic bridge construction in Lake Charles and expansion of Monarch Casino in Black Hawk should negatively impact 1Q19 results, balanced by the addition of the Margaritaville revenue stream from Shreveport. Penn has a lot on its plate. In addition to closing the Greektown Casino acquisition it is starting construction of Hollywood Casino York ($120 million) and Hollywood Casino Morgantown ($111 million), both in Pennsylvania. Judging by the company’s ongoing silence about Phase II of the Tropicana Las Vegas we’re convinced Penn’s decided to stand past on that asset.
* Would you believe that resort fees comprise as much as 25% of Las Vegas room rates at MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment properties? You probably would. So it 
comes as no surprise that the giants are looking out to whale on the little guy with another round of fee increases, per Credit Suisse analyst Cameron McKnight. “We are surprised operators are considering an increase, given some indications the leisure customer is more price sensitive, very shaky 3Q:18 results, and no shortage of negative online commentary on ancillary fees,” he wrote. With early year room revenues at MGM properties tracking 10% higher than last year, you have to wonder: Why the push?
In the meantime, despite poor attempts to include the community in the Las Vegas Raiders push, seats for the vagabond football team are selling well. McKnight elaborates that “personal seat license sales at the new Raiders Stadium are running ahead of their 
$250mm budget, with the stadium now selling the lowest priced licenses. The most expensive tier is sold out and the second tier is 90% sold, with licenses offered to existing Oakland Raiders season ticket holders, then Las Vegas residents, and others. We estimate the opening of Raiders Stadium in the 2020 season could boost fall/winter visitation by 3.3%, and is generally considered a key medium term catalyst.” We’d be curious as to how many Oakland-based fans are going to make the trek to Las Vegas eight times a year, especially after having their fandom raped by the Davis family.
In other Vegas news, McKnight reports:
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- Airline capacity into Las Vegas is going to be 2%-6% higher this winter and spring.
- Although sports book handle on Super Bowl LIII was $146 million, the lowest since 2015 (Patriots over Seahawks), the books cleaned up, taking $10 million from gamblers, as opposed to last year’s $1 million and change.
- By contrast, New Jersey Super Bowl handle was a big flop: $35 million where $100 million was expected. Players won big as the books took a $4.5 million bath.
- Lady Gaga owns Celine Dion, commanding an average ticket price of $474 compared to $273 for la petite Quebecoise.
* My strongest Valentine’s Day memory of Las Vegas is taking my future wife to Nob Hill for an insanely expensive dinner and having to run the gauntlet of Los Angeles gang members, yelling back and forth at each other across the MGM Grand casino floor. It added a certain frisson to the evening. Anyway … WalletHub has ranked Sin City as the third-best place to spend Valentine’s Day. Factors in the decision included the number of number of restaurants per capita (fourth), attractions (ninth), jewelry stores (seventh), florists (fifth), and stores for greeting cards and gifts (fourth). Only inherently romantic San Francisco (where, as Luciano Pavarotti sang, the leetle cable cars travel ‘alfway to the stars) and New York City bested Las Vegas in the survey.
Dave: Punters (gamblers) are going to their ‘corner bookie’ instead of the casino because of two (2) reasons, convenience and credit.